Neverlost, Neverfound
by FluffleNeCharka
Summary: Done for the Ipod Shuffle Challenge - 10 ficlets, some TADR, some MembraneTak, some where the Earth is ruined and some where betrayal and desperation seem to be everywhere. Rated for character death. Complete.


AN: So, a talented writer in the Fillmore section did a Ipod Shuffle Challenge fanfic, and I've been inspired to attempt it myself. But, this being me and not someone sane, I decided to use an unorthodox pairing. What can I say, I'm a bit weird in that regard. So be warned, this contains some TakMembrane as well as TakDib. Regardless, as per ISC stipulation, the rules of this thing are as follows:

_1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like._

_2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle._

_3. Write a ficlet related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it's over. No lingering afterwards!_

_4. Do ten of these, then post them._

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**Never Leave by Seether**

It wasn't easy for him when his wife died.

For all his science and rambling, he couldn't save her, couldn't make it so that she'd be alright. And there was no one else who could ever even hope to replace her. Her intelligence, her wit - she was above and beyond him mentally. No one came close to her in that regard. After a while he gave up looking for someone. Maybe there was only one person out there for him. Or maybe he'd simply given up on love.

Then there was her. She was sharp as a tack and quick as a whip. She was brilliant and soft spoken and quietly far away.

Maybe she was dead inside like him. Maybe she was slowly moving away from reality, finding that, like him, most geniuses went unappreciated. Maybe she hung out with him in an attempt to be famous or for her own little motives. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered to him anymore, because she was genuinely smart and genuinely interested in him. It could all be lies for all he knew, so long as she stayed by him. He didn't want to be alone and numb anymore.

"I'm proud to announce my newest, youngest lab assistant, Tak Weeni."

And even if she were to hurt him or turn out not to be what she claimed she was, he didn't care. Professor Membrane could close his eyes sometimes and pretend his wife never left, and that all he needed.

**Heart Shaped Glasses by Marilyn Manson**

She really was just like his wife sometimes.

Her voice was exactly like hers. She was shorter, with softer features, but she was so vivid and alive. Wonderfully alive, vicious, cruel, but only to those in her age group. She wouldn't hurt him. Never him. Just those who did not comprehend the genius behind those violent eyes. Violet. Just like hers. Professor Membrane was drowning in her, in her eyes. She was toxic. She was so cold and evil that his mind knew this soft, gentle side couldn't be real.

But he needed it to be. He needed to kiss her and see violet eyes staring back at him, to wake up beside her and see porcelain white skin. He needed to hear a solid 'I understand' when he talked about his experiments. He needed to be woken up with harsh words and a gentle peck on the cheek, to a breakfast that was fresh and hot and tasted burned, not that he noticed. He feels guilty sometimes, using her like this. It's awful, to play her like a puppet. And one day she'll realize what this is, what a falsehood this whole relationship is, and she'll leave him.

Yeah, right. And one day he'll kiss her with his eyes closed, too.

**Loves Me Not by t.A.t.U.**

Tak thought that this plan was fine. That she could do it, she could fake affection for her own means. But goddamnit, she can't, she can't and she needs to and _wants_ to because she's gotten herself in so deep she can't get out without hurting them.

Dib. He was so in tune with what the world didn't want to see. His father was flat out brilliant. They were so opposite. How could she love them both? Smart and logical, dark versus lighthearted, cynic and an optimist, kiddy love and desperate need. The one who needed her to believe in him, if only briefly, and the one who needed someone, anyone at all. The fighter and the lover. She wanted them both for herself. She understood them, she knew them, she loved them, they loved her.

But in the end, there could only be one.

"This plan," she told MiMi softly, in a voice with a long faked accent, "Is complete rubbish."

**Fallen by Sarah McLachlan**

They had found out. They had to. It was inevitable.

So here she was, curled up in the remains of her ship on this miserable planet she'd crashed onto, beating herself up. She deserved as much, after all. There was a time she thought her youth was behind her, and she could become something great and wonderful. Yet here she was. She let her body slide out of the twisted hunk of metal and hit the ground, staring up at the stars. Far away, Dib and his father were out there.

Did they hate her? Did they want to pretend they never knew her? Were they at even worse odds because of what she'd done? Or would she unite them in a sea of anti-Tak sentiment? She had no way of knowing, but it was impossible not to think about, she realized as she stared unceasingly at the sky. It had been so awful and so wonderful while it lasted. Glancing at MiMi, who stood staring at her in confusion, she smiled blissfully.

"I regret nothing."

**Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode**

When everything had failed him, he'd reached for her.

It was so easy to place her on a pedastal. It was easy to turn her into something she wasn't in his head, to build her up to be his hero. She was smart and funny, but to Dib she was _brilliant_ and _hysterically funny_. She was easy to believe in, easy to trust. No one had ever believed him before, after all. No one had ever listened to him. So anyone who did was his hero, and she used it to her advantage. He acted as if she was some sort of goddess.

And that goddess pressed her pale lips to his, entwined his rough hands in her baby soft ones, and smiled through heavily lidded eyes at him. She requested knowledge and he gave it robotically. She asked for things and there he was. He was at her beck and call. He had no reason to be. He should have known better. Was this what faith was, ignoring logic and submitting to someone higher? If so, he'd found himself in the First Cult of Tak, with no desire to leave. He was reaching for the last thing he had when he told her he loved her.

Too bad she didn't reach back.

**Bonnie Butterfly by KinKi Kids**

There had been some kind of magic that night.

Either that or some kind of poison that was making her insane. She was laughing - why was she laughing so much - as she pulled him towards yet another ride she didn't really want to go on. She just couldn't help it. She closed her eyes and let the rollercoaster fly them away, imagining flying through the universe with him as he laughed right along side her. And she giggled when he fixed her hair with his hands, pulling towards the god awful water ride.

"But your dress!" he protested, and she waved off his protests.

And they flew through sprays of water that was like lava to her as she squealed and squeeked and prayed desperately that no one ever found out she dared to be so utterly silly and take such big risks with her life. What on Earth was wrong with her? She ate cotton candy feed to her from his fingers and sat on a fake horse going round and round as she watched the stars swirl past her. She made pirate noises on an obnoxious ride that swung them back and forth until the world seemed a blur. Yet she was so happy with these stupid little things.

As she lay flat on her back, watching the stars from his roof, she had to wonder if the magic was in the carnival... or Dib.

**Transylvania by Malice Mizer**

"Well well well, if isn't Dib."

"Tak."

"It's been a while. Twenty of your years, I believe."

"I'm Earth's greatest hero now, Tak."

"Ah, yes." She smiled cruelly. "I saw what you did to Zim. Impressive."

He looked at her with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "Impressive, but...?"

"Dib, my faction of the Empire will kill you and everyone around you in a heartbeat."

"You can't do that."

"Look behind you," she said, gesturing with one long, well manicured hand to the window of her ship.

And he turned, only to find that North America was vanishing, water swirling over it until within seconds, it was nothing. The sheer volume of what was happening terrified him. His heart in his throat, he turned to her with tears in his accusing eyes. She smiled benignly down at him.

"Surrender or they'll stay underwater, Dib. And if you think this was a fluke, just imagine how easy it would be to take out islands on your precious planet."

"I used to love you," he whispered softly.

"Is that a yes?"

His silent tears were all the answer she needed as she began to laugh, the cold sound echoing in the midst of the Mega Massive.

Earth had lost.

**Trip My Wire by Garbage**

There was a switch in Tak's mind.

There had been a split when she was young, between who she was and who she had to be. A divide between rationality and brutality. All her life, she had carefully stayed between the two, a balance of both. But certain times, she would rip out of her shell and leave someone shocked, battered and mentally torn in her wake. She would not tolerate being talked down to. Not anymore. She simply had no tolerance for that. A lifetime of being defenseless, beaten down and never in power left her drunk on any power she could find. Here at school she will be a queen, and she will show her subjects no mercy for making fun of her.

So when she sends Gretchen crying, sobbing hysterically about her braces and matted hair, she doesn't apologize. She doesn't tell anyone she caused it, and she doesn't defend herself. She lets the universe handle it, lets kids gossip about it and lets people glare her down for it. It's better this way, better for them to see what she can do.

They _will_ learn not to trip her wire, and the next time Professor Membrane calls her honey as if she's his wife and calls her in the middle of class, they will _not_ comment on it, _or else_.

**Wake Up in New York by Craig Armstrong**

Tak,

If you've gotten this letter then you know I'm dead. Look, I just want to clear the air between us. This letter isn't meant to make you feel bad about what happened, or how things went. We can't change the past. You know I never meant to hurt you and I know you probably didn't mean for me to fall for you at all. I understand. It happens. But I don't want you to walk away from this thinking I went to my grave hating you.

If things had been different, I think we could've made it. We could have been real paranormal investigators together. You understood everything I taught you, after all. We could have been perfect for each other. I don't blame you for not choosing me. That was my dream, not yours. You had to make your dreams happened, just like I had to chase mine. So even if you've murdered me or I've died at the hands of a herd of Chupacabras, I still think you're great even now. I don't know if you ever forgave me for ruining your plans. I don't blame you if you didn't.

But I love you either way.

- Dib

**Heaven's a Lie by Lacuna Coil**

She had betrayed them.

Him. She had betrayed him. She had left him in a city turned to rubble. She had taken his projects, his research, his inventions, and handed them over to the Armada. The fact that Dib was right, had been right all along, hit his father hard. He stood watching in horror as Tak's newfound mental powers wrecked havoc on the city, clearing the way for the Tallests to come and get Earth's snacks before killing everyone else.

He took off at a run, to watch her for the signs of the girl he'd loved. She saw, or rather, sensed him, coming to a stop atop a pile of rubble. She glared him down with a smile painted on her face.

"You were going to use me as a military weapon, Professor. Spare me the look of feigned innocence."

"I never would have gone through with it, and if you can read my mind, you should know that." His voice was soft and timid as he stared imploringly up at the violet haired girl, who returned the smile. For the briefest moment, he thought he'd gotten through to her, right before a horrible shock went through him, and his limp body collapsed, held in the air by telekinesis.

"Yes, you would have," she hissed, eyes narrowed in an accute mixture of love and hate. "You just wanted to save your own damn skin." Her hands clenched tight, she threw his body away, to land among the trash like he deserved. "Traitor."

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AN: So, how was it? I did this in under a half an hour, so I'm sorry if there are glaring errors or mistakes in here. Please tell me if there are and I'll fix them. And, you know, any concrit or comments in general are welcomed. I'm here to learn.


End file.
